Saving Thailand’s elephants with champagne and paddle boats
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Saving Thailand's elephants with champagne and paddle boats
Thailand's inaugural King'due south Cup Elephant Boat Race and River Festival on the Chao Phraya was an elaborate affair – with very noble ambitions.
(Photo: Bangkok River Festival)
04 Apr 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 03:58PM)
The Thais certain love their water. They built their capital letter urban center, Bangkok, right along the edge of one of the world's great waterways, the Chao Phraya. They dug up an intricate Venetian-like network of klongs, or canals, and synthetic fabled teak homes along them. Their navy is a source of pride and joy. For centuries, they've staged elaborate river festivals, and devoted an entire holiday, Songkran, to water. Even their markets bladder.
Is it whatsoever wonder, then, that 1 of Thailand's marquee events this year was the inaugural Male monarch'southward Cup Elephant Boat Race and River Festivall?
Over the weekend of Mar 29 to 31, battalions of spectators braved the sweltering heat to descend on the banks of the Chao Phraya where a vast, white-tented show-ground had been gear up next to the Anantara Riverside and the Avani+ Riverside hotels.
To much enthusiastic thank you – fuelled partly past drinks from a crate of sponsors that included Veuve Clicquot, Mekhong distilled spirit, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, and Chang beer – 12 teams from Thailand, Mainland china and the Philippines raced downwardly a 200m stretch of the river in long paddle boats that were crowned at the bow with carved elephant heads, and at the stern with traditional Thai fish motifs.
The air thrummed with the amplified rapid heart-crush of drums which set the rhythm for the paddlers – though for all the long build-up to the starting line, each oestrus was over faster than you could say "One tom yum goong, please!"
After a series of elimination rounds, the winner was, appropriately, local favourite, the Purple Thai Navy Seals – a platoon of superbly conditioned athletes whose unacceptably chiselled bodies and muscled artillery took precisely 46.68 seconds to churn down the 200m class.
Meanwhile, nether i of the footing'due south tents, the Indoor Rowing Asia Cup Tournament was held with teams from 9 countries – Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India, Iraq, Nippon, Malaysia, Islamic republic of pakistan, Kingdom of saudi arabia, and Thailand – rowing the equivalent of 2 km on stationary machines. The winner of the women's championship was Yi-ting Huang from Taipei, while India'due south Parminder Singh was the men's champion.
And as the setting dominicus gathered the light beneath the horizon, the stage was set, literally, for a zombie house side-show, vintage car auction, clowns, and a series of concerts by local celeb chanteuses like New & Jiew and Singto Numchok, while drinks flowed freely at the sponsor tents, and Benihana and The Spice Marketplace dished out dinner.
Of grade, in the midst of all the jolly festivities, it was almost besides like shooting fish in a barrel to overlook a more serious undertone to the event. For, as it turned out, the Festival was the culmination of the Anantara hotels' week-long celebration of Thai National Elephant Day.
The dorsum story here is worth recounting. Looking for a way to help elephants, William Heinecke, the hotelier and founder of Pocket-size – a vast conglomerate that includes the Anantara and Avani brands – found his pachyderm Ground Aught when he acquired the Anantara Gilded Triangle in 2002. Starting small, he turned the surrounding forest and grassland over to four elephants, a herd that eventually grew to 25. Every bit the numbers expanded, then did Heinecke's ambitions.
For instance, gain of all ticket sales from this year's King'due south Loving cup Elephant Boat Race & River Festival (and subsequent editions) become to elephant-related projects throughout Thailand that are overseen by the Aureate Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation – a Thai-registered not-profit that Heinecke set up in 2006 to help vulnerable elephants who, through abuse or circumstance, are unable to maintain an income for their upkeep, or for their mahouts and their families.
With the support of the Minor grouping hotels, John Roberts, the Foundation's Director of Elephants & Conservation Activities says the Foundation "provides and promotes ethical work for elephants that are able to make a living, and a rubber, healthy environment for those who cannot".
Today, the Foundation works with the likes of Freeland Foundation in Thailand, Wildlife Alliance in Cambodia, USAID, Recollect Elephants International, and the Zoological Parks System of Thailand which helps 300 elephants in a traditional mahout village in Surin.
"In that location are about x,000 elephants in captivity in S East asia, with a similar number in the wild," Roberts says. "Nosotros provide training and workshops, and we investigate and share best practices."
The approach is holistic and non-confrontational. "We railroad train mahouts in modernistic, elephant-friendly handling techniques. Our Thai-based wild elephant projects focus on helping manage the interface where elephants come out of what remains of their habitat and into farmers' fields to ensure information technology is safe for humans and elephants alike. Nosotros hashtag it #SurvivingTogether.
"As a second approach we fund research into studying the behaviour of crop-raiding elephants – the more than we know most how they remember and see the world, the amend we can provide for their needs inside protected areas."
The Foundation's remit reaches into Cambodia where it completely funds the protection of an 18,000ha elephant corridor in the Cardamom Mountains.
All of which might seem like a long mode from the music, lights and family unit-friendly carousing on the Chao Phraya, but a big splashy Thai party sure is a bully way to address the elephant in the room.
READ> Y'all can go on a luxury holiday without worrying about your carbon footprint
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/elephant-boat-race-and-river-festival-bangkok-thailand-2019-239291
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